


Do You Love Him?

by Jester85



Series: The Ghost of You [2]
Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-15
Updated: 2016-05-15
Packaged: 2018-06-08 14:42:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 639
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6859171
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jester85/pseuds/Jester85
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sam asks Bucky a Very Important Question.</p>
<p>Loosely set somewhere during Captain America: Civil War while Steve/Sam/Bucky are on the run in Germany.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Do You Love Him?

"Do you love him?"

The question smacks Bucky like a sideways glancing blow, the dark man's words echoing in the empty  
expanse of the nearly deserted parking garage. 

Of all the things he expected Sam Wilson/The Falcon to ask him, that was not one of them.

He turns slowly, long grimy black hair falling over his hooded eyes, and finds the other man, neat goatee and stern dark eyes, meeting his gaze equally implacably.

Love. 

The word feels greasy and metallic on his tongue. Like something he doesn’t have the right to utter. Like something sacred, pure, he’d defile by speaking with his own mouth.

"Yes." The word grinds out almost involuntarily, like some truth clawing its way up out of the cage HYDRA and his own guilt had locked it in.

The firm set of Wilson's mouth doesn't budge, but there's a flicker of something in his eyes. Surprise.....compassion...?

"How?" The black man's tone is still hard. Demanding. 

Part of Bucky wants to tell him to fuck off, that he has no right to demand to know things from seventy years before he entered the picture and took the place at Steve's side that had once belonged only to him, to try to understand an ancient history he knows nothing about.

"In every way." Each word feels like it takes an eternity to scratch itself up from a throat that feels parched and choked, like he's been lost in a wasteland for decades. In a way, he supposes he has.

Wilson glances away, and there it is, that flicker of discomfort, of a sympathy the other man doesn't want to feel. Not toward him. Bucky can't really blame him. "He loves you too, you know. Blind man could see it."

Bucky feels a tiny warmth he knows he doesn't deserve to feel.

"Look, I get it," Wilson says, and his tone is somehow lighter. Not...friendly, exactly, but more like the way he talks to Steve. "I'm an Army vet, I lost my wingman, I saw some messed-up shit. And I don't pretend to know what HYDRA did to you. But I'm not here for you. I'm here for Steve."

Bucky nods, tight and sharp. The Soldier's nod.

Wilson is shifting his weight, glancing around, uncomfortable with this conversation, but pressing on, getting out what he has to say. "I trust you about as far as I can throw you, Barnes. But I trust Steve. And the way Steve never shuts up about you, I figure you must have been a pretty stand-up guy back in the day. But you and I both know you're not that guy. Even if he doesn't see it."

Bucky's tongue feels like lead in his mouth. "You're smart." The words come out with a bitter twist, even if he doesn't really blame Wilson for anything.

Wilson just gives a short, jerky nod, his mouth setting hard again. "You make a wrong move on him, and I will put you down, Barnes. And if I have to put you down in a way you don't get up again, then so be it. He'll hate me for it. But he'll be alive. Understood?"

Bucky forces himself to meet the darker man's firm gaze, know that he means it. And he feels a small surge of gratitude toward Sam Wilson. "Good."

There's that flicker again, the surprise, bringing with it a flash of......pity? Bucky almost prefers it when Wilson blatantly hates his guts.

The screech of tires in the parking garage. Steve is back, with their vehicle. 

"We get in that car together, we gonna be cool, Barnes?" Wilson asks, eyebrows knitting together.

Bucky feels a bitter curve of something resembling a smile tugging at his mouth. It feels out of place.

"Yeah," he grinds out at last, "We're gonna be cool."


End file.
